THE ATENEO Fencing Team continued their upward rise in today’s team matches as they took home medals in all team events on Friday, February 10, the third day of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 79 Fencing Championships at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Gymnasium in Morayta.
The day began with the Men’s Saber team, where the Blue and White was represented by RV Libarios, Brent Trinidad, Daniel Yu and Paolo Villegas. The quartet first faced the University of the Philipppines (UP) in the fourth vs fifth battle and for the right to face University of the East (UE) in the semifinals.
The match started with UP in control, until Yu made a breakthrough when he went for an 8-4 stint to give Ateneo a one point lead. It didn’t last, however, as the Fighting Maroons took the lead back immediately in the next rotation. Coming into the final stint, Libarios was facing a one point deficit, 39-40, but he outscored his rival 6-3 to grab the team win for the Blue Eagles.
The Blue Eagles then faced the top-seeded University of the East in the semifinals, and the match was in the reigning champions’ hands from the get-go. The Red Warriors consistently increased the lead every rotation that resulted to a final score of 45-21 and a bronze medal finish for the Blue Eagles.
The Women’s Foil team also played their match in the morning session. The team was led by double individual medalist Andie Ignacio alongside Patricia Paulo, K-An Untal and Gabby Jimenez.
Their first match was against hosts University of Santo Tomas, which was their ticket into the semifinals. The match was a tit-for-tat affair, until Untal and Ignacio reeled off consecutive 5-0 stints giving Ateneo a 25-14 lead, something that they never relinquished en route to a 45-28 final score against the Golden Tigresses.
They then faced a tough Univeristy of the East team, also seeded first in Women’s Foil. Despite a valiant effort— including a 10-1 run from Ignacio in the early part of the match to give Ateneo a 4-point lead— the team was unable to keep up with the Warriors who went on to the finals with a 45-26 win against the Lady Eagles. The lady fencers who donned the Blue and White also brought home a bronze medal for their efforts.
The afternoon featured the team matchup for the Men’s Epee team, where the Blue and White was represented by Michael Tan, Coby Villanueva, Simon Borja and Kyle Lim. Once again the team was seeded fourth and had to fight their way to the semifinals.
Their first match was against the fencers from De La Salle Univeristy. It was a tight affair in the beginning, as DLSU was able to grab a 7-6 lead before Tan went on a 6-1 stint, which was a catalyst for the team, as all following rotations was won by the Blue Eagles, eventually leading to a final score of 45-26.
In the semifinals, the Blue Eagles faced the top seeded University of Santo Tomas team that also featured the current top ranked Epee player in the nation, Noclito Jose. The team started off slowly, leading to a 9-point run before Borja went 4-2 on a rotation to stop the bleeding.
Afterwards, the team was able to keep up with the rest of UST’s rotation. However, the Blue Eagles kept on losing points to Jose, leading to a 45-33 defeat. The Men’s Epee team also nabbed a bronze medal to add to the total medal tally of the day.
“Coming from last year, we just wanted to be better than last year because then we knew we could do it but there was something lacking, so this year we made sure that we could fill the holes this year and execute what we trained,” says Andie Ignacio when asked about the team’s performace over the past three days. Ignacio has already won three medals and is in the running for a fourth on the last day of the championships.
The UAAP Season 79 Fencing Tournament will end on Saturday, February 11, with the culmination of the rest of the team events: Men’s Foil, Women’s Sabre and Women’s Epee. It will once again be held at the UST Gymnasium, Manila.
THE ATENEO Fencing Team continued their upward rise in today’s teammatches as they took home medals in all team events on Friday, February 10, thethird day of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP)Season 79 Fencing Championships at the University of Santo Tomas (UST)Gymnasium in Morayta.
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